Publication Date August 7, 2017 | Sacramento Bee

Sacramento breaks a heat-wave record

United States
A just-retired Mark Wilson of East Sacramento, left, relaxes in a kayak while floating in Lake Natoma with his friend Danny Langdon of Tahoe Park on Thursday, August 3, 2017 in Sacramento, Calif. Sacramento set a heat-wave record Monday with 41 consecutive days at 90 degrees or warmer. Photo: Randy Pench
A just-retired Mark Wilson of East Sacramento, left, relaxes in a kayak while floating in Lake Natoma with his friend Danny Langdon of Tahoe Park on Thursday, August 3, 2017 in Sacramento, Calif. Sacramento set a heat-wave record Monday with 41 consecutive days at 90 degrees or warmer. Photo: Randy Pench

Downtown Sacramento on Monday broke its record for the number of consecutive days that temperatures topped out at 90 degrees or higher.

A high of 90 degrees was reached shortly before 3 p.m., marking a 41-day streak, according to the National Weather Service. The previous record was 40 consecutive days, set in 1992.

The last time downtown Sacramento saw a high of less than 90 degrees was June 27. The 40-day streak in 1992 ran from July 13 through Aug. 21.

“We’ve just been under a ridge of high pressure for a lot of the summer,” said Cory Mueller, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. That has created the extended period of warm weather, he noted.